The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus for performing printing on an index sheet having an index tab.
Present day technology enables an image forming apparatus, such as a printer, a multifunction printer, or a multifunction peripheral, to perform printing on an index sheet. The term index sheet refers to a sheet of a standard size, such as A4 or letter size, that has an index tab. The index tab protrudes from an edge of a standard size part of the index sheet. In other words, the index tab is located outside of an area corresponding to the standard size. Also, positioning and size of an index tab may differ for different index sheets. Therefore, when printing is to be performed on an index sheet, a user makes a print request by setting a printing sheet size as a custom size that is larger than a standard size. In such a situation, if the user makes the print request but forgets to load the index sheet in a sheet feed cassette, only an image of an original document is printed on a sheet of the standard size and an image is not printed on the index tab. In order to combat the issue described above, an image forming apparatus has been previously provided that automatically selects a sheet feed cassette in which index sheets have been loaded. For example, when an image forming apparatus executes a print job for printing an image on an index sheet, the image forming apparatus may select a sheet tray (sheet feed cassette) in which index sheets have been loaded that satisfy an indicated relationship between sheet orientation and index tab position. When an appropriate index sheet has not been loaded in the sheet tray, printing is suspended and is only executed once an appropriate index sheet is loaded. By suspending printing as described above when an appropriate index sheet has not been loaded, it is possible to prevent unnecessary printing from being performed.